Image: A very friendly Minke whale.
2024 08-24 SB Channel
Skies were sunny all day. There was a little bit of residual bump in The Channel from the west, but no wind on top of it. We headed west towards Goleta where we found a nice hotspot. Sightings for the day included: 6 humpback whales, 3 Minke whales and 3500 common dolphins.
Dolphins were first spotted 1 mile out from The Harbor. It was a small group, and very spread-out. By the time we got to Goleta, the pods had increased in size to 500 each, with lots of pods. One large aggregation was part of a birdnado. The activity attracted 2 humpback whales, and then 4 more of them joined later. One of the whales was recognized as being recently disentangled down in the Orange County area. Its tail still has fresh entanglement wounds visible. The animal is moving around with plenty of energy and keeping up with the rest of the whales. Hopes are that it will be just a matter of time till everything heals. Congratulations to the entanglement team that saved this whale in OC!
The hotspot also generated the interest of three adult Minke whales. (See today’s photo for anexample). One made a very friendly approach to the Condor Express while we were closely watching a humpback. We had a superior looks at both species simultaneously!
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Bob Perry
Condor Express, and
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